Section 182

Actually, this was a good thing for the country.

But!

Given the current situation, it was truly a life-threatening crisis!

The Admiral of the Navy had wiped the fine sweat from his forehead several times... but it kept pouring out!

He could already foresee...

That when his direct superior, the Chinese Military's Director of National Defense, Director Chu Yun, returned to the country... he would inevitably receive a harsh scolding!

This was simply bringing up the one thing that shouldn't be mentioned!

He had worked so hard at the United Nations assembly... to clear the connection between Lin Xian and arms dealing, and to distance the Chinese Military from those Super Black Technology weapons...

If his subordinate messed things up here! If the United States caught wind of anything! Wouldn't the whole world be laughing at China!

"No! No! We can't let this happen!"

The Admiral slammed the table in anger and stood up abruptly!

The secretary beside him quickly stepped forward to ask:

"Do we need to contact this soldier immediately? That way we could..."

"No!"

The Admiral immediately reached out to reject the secretary's idea, shaking his head as he spoke:

"Right now, all the people of China, as well as many foreigners, are watching Lin Xian's stream... if we call to contact this soldier at this time... wouldn't that be directly revealing our Navy's identity? That would be even more troublesome!"

"Plus... [we fought so hard to grab the chance to connect with Lin Xian]! If you make this call... won't the connection on his end be cut off? Such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that other military regions are green with envy over... how can we just give it up?"

"Besides..."

The Admiral let out a long breath, his expression gradually calming down:

"Besides... this soldier hasn't made any mistakes. He actually spoke quite well... and the reason he fabricated was great, using the need for a [giant fish-drying boat] to disguise himself as a fisherman who wants to dry fish... cough, I have to admit, this soldier is a genius in terms of logic! After he completes the mission... I can recommend him to the [Strategic Deception Bureau] for some training."

"But that's for later! The main problem now is... how do we salvage this situation! To be honest... hearing the words 'ford-class aircraft carrier' come out of a fisherman's mouth... it's just too jarring! I see the bullet comments are right... how could a fisherman know what a [ford-class aircraft carrier] is? Even an average college student couldn't say that!"

...

Just then.

A white-haired Navy Chief of Staff turned around from the command console below, looking seriously at the Admiral:

"Comrade Admiral, I believe... if we want to smooth this over and maintain this soldier's disguised [fisherman] identity... we must beat them at their own game! We need to use the netizens' logic against them! Make everything absurd seem [reasonable]!"

Pfft—

Hearing the Chief of Staff's words, the Admiral didn't know whether to laugh or cry, saying:

"He even said the words 'ford-class aircraft carrier'... hasn't his disguise as a fisherman already been exposed?"

"However, you've always had plenty of ideas, and I still trust you. Go ahead and tell me your plan... let's see if we can patch up the current situation. At least... it has to be smoothed over on the surface so it sounds plausible! Just like the reasons Director Chu Yun fabricated today."

The Chief of Staff nodded.

He pushed up his glasses.

He stated his plan:

"The biggest joke for the netizens right now is that this is clearly a fisherman, yet he used a professional term like 'ford-class aircraft carrier.' They feel this is very unreasonable."

...

"[If we use a little trick to make everyone think it's perfectly reasonable for a fisherman to know and understand the ford-class aircraft carrier... wouldn't that work?]"

Seeing the Admiral's shocked and confused expression, the Chief of Staff smiled and pointed at the Think Tank behind him, commanding:

"Comrades of the Think Tank! It's time for you to go online and execute the mission!"

"Immediately disguise yourselves as ordinary netizens! Go into Lin Xian's livestream and steer the narrative! Use your clever minds and wisdom... to achieve our goal—[Make all Chinese netizens have a sudden realization! Let them truly accept from the bottom of their hearts that it is... perfectly reasonable for a Chinese fisherman to say the words 'ford-class aircraft carrier'!]"

In Lin Xian's livestream...

The netizens were still laughing up a storm! They began creating memes frantically around the term "ford-class aircraft carrier"!

The bullet comments were filled with phrases like "Bad acting!", "Identity exposed!", "Soldier brother, stop pretending!" and so on...

This caused the Navy soldier currently on the call to panic! He became nervous!

He fell silent, not daring to speak!

He was terrified of saying another wrong word!

However...

Just then,

A group of accounts without profile pictures suddenly flooded into the livestream, and the vast majority were new "shill" accounts that had just been registered!

After these new accounts entered the livestream... they instantly began to steer the narrative, defending this "Fisherman Big Brother":

"Wait... do you people have some kind of misunderstanding about Chinese fishermen? Cough... [Isn't it perfectly normal for a Chinese fisherman to recognize a ford-class aircraft carrier?] You must never forget! When Chinese fishermen go out to sea to fish... seeing all kinds of aircraft carriers is already a common occurrence, nothing to be surprised about! Perhaps for you ordinary people... you won't see a single warship in your entire life. But those fishermen are out on the sea every day... they've seen more aircraft carriers than you've eaten grains of rice!"

"Yeah, yeah! Is it that strange for the word 'ford-class aircraft carrier' to come out of a fisherman comrade's mouth? You guys have no idea... those fishermen from my hometown are all military experts! When they talk about foreign warship models, positions, speeds, and such... they're more accurate than satellites! You might wonder why... hahaha, you definitely wouldn't guess—[The things fishermen dredge up from the seabed can be exchanged for big rewards from the state!]"

"Exactly! Don't you all know? Chinese fishermen often dredge up sonar devices, underwater drones, small probes, and other things from the seabed. These things can be handed directly over to the state! The reward amounts range from several thousand to tens of thousands! They're worth more than a whole boatload of fish! In the South China Sea area right now... the sonar devices the US worked so hard to place for decades have all been dredged up by fishermen! Out of desperation... the US even printed banners on their vessels saying [Sonar contains no copper, dredging it up is useless!]"

"Yeah... these fishermen are all very smart now! Working hard to catch a boat of fish might not even make much money, or they might even catch nothing and work for nothing... But! If they can follow behind those suspicious US vessels... dredge up an [underwater probe], [sonar device], or [hydrographic equipment] they just dropped, grab it and run, then hand it over to the state! If they're lucky... tens of thousands of yuan are in the bag!"

"So, don't even say fishermen know the term 'ford-class aircraft carrier'... they can even tell you the model, function, and purpose of every single US warship! The reason is simple... they're just waiting to follow behind them and dredge up good stuff to sell for money! It has to be said... Chinese fishermen are the first line of defense for China's territorial waters! As soon as the Americans drop a probe... the fishermen here dredge it up for money! It's enough to make the Americans cry!"

...

More and more comments were appearing to whitewash this "Fisherman Comrade"!

Various real-life examples... left the Chinese netizens stunned—

In recent years,

The United States has viewed China as its greatest competitor, deploying more military force to the Asia-Pacific region and placing surveillance ships in the waters surrounding China, deploying submersibles, sonar, and other devices to conduct rigorous detection of China.

Every year, Chinese fishermen dredge up various devices deployed by the US military while fishing at sea.

On January 17th last year, Jiangsu Province even held a commendation ceremony! Specifically rewarding 11 fishermen and 5 related personnel who dredged up various submersibles deployed by the US the previous year!

After identification by experts, these devices were capable of completing tasks such as investigation, identification, and intelligence theft, posing a threat to national security. The 11 fishermen and 5 related personnel all received monetary and other rewards.

These things weren't just jokes made up on the internet...

The various legendary deeds of Chinese fishermen were all traceable and actually happened!

Back when Chinese fishermen learned that those black, clunky iron lumps could actually be sold for money and earn them honorary banners...

They simply went crazy!

Who cares about catching fish!

Let's form a group to go dredge up iron lumps!

One iron sonar lump could be sold to the state for 5,000 yuan! One pitch-black probe could be worth 10,000 yuan plus an honorary banner!

It was simply a windfall from the heavens!

Catch fish?

What fish could be this profitable?

And so...

In this frantic dredging operation, the sonar detection system the US had worked so hard to set up for decades was completely ruined!

Various probes, sonar devices, and locators were dredged clean by the frantic fishermen!

Not a single one was left!

A total loss.

Meanwhile, the Chinese Security Agency was laughing with joy!

Without spending much money... they had solved such a huge hidden danger and even obtained many advanced US devices for research...

It was a total win!

Nowadays, there really are a large number of Chinese fishermen... who see US warships like they're seeing a money tree!

As soon as one appears in their sight! They immediately follow behind waiting to dredge!

Whatever you drop, we dredge!

Grab it and run!

Go back and hand it in for money! It's absolutely awesome!

"So... under this premise..."

The Navy Chief of Staff chuckled proudly while typing rapidly on his keyboard, sending a bullet comment under the identity of an "ordinary coastal netizen," telling the spectators in the livestream—

"[So, Chinese fishermen are now scrambling to follow behind US warships every day, waiting to pick up a bargain!]"

"[So in this situation... isn't it perfectly normal for a fisherman to know what a ford-class aircraft carrier looks like?]"

Chapter 114: Chinese Fishermen Chasing US Warships! Don't go, fellow countryman! Come down and chat!